Nodoka's Son
by DaisukiFox
Summary: Continuation of Ryoga's Girlfriend. The strings of fate have unraveled... Nodoka's presence risks Ranma's happiness with Ryoga. Can they withhold the contract? RyogaXRanma (Book 3)
1. Chapter 1

_Nodoka's Son_

By: DaisukiFox

 **Author's Note:** I'm back... I know that this story has been technically canceled. I've decided that I want to write this as a way for me to say... I think I found a way for me to enjoy the continuation of the Boyfriend/Girlfriend series.

It took me awhile but I finally see what everyone saw in the regular Nodoka's Daughter... first off quite a few grammatical errors. I tried my best to edit this chapter but also change up the progression of this story.

It changed what the series was leading up to, RanmaXRyoga. I think that's where I went wrong... despite me giving a decent portrayal of Akane. I still wanted this to end as a Ranma and Ryoga... it's just that Akane stands in the way. That's one of the things this story will address.

This story is about dismantling the RanmaXAkane relationship, showing why it can be broken simply given how incompatible the two are. This is a challenge that gets me excited... the thing is. I have to do it well. Ranma and Ryoga also have an advantage Akane has yet to take care of.

Anyway, there's some cool news at the bottom of this page. Sorry for taking a bit there was quite a bit to go over.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma1/2! Ranma 1/2 is owned by Viz Media and Rumiko Takahashi!**

* * *

 **Kasumi**

The eldest sister of the Tendo's was vacuuming the hall, near the front entrance. Not a care in the world as she hummed to herself, that was until someone knocked on the front door. "Just a minute!" she shouted, turning the household appliance off, going over to the door and opening it.

"Hello? Oh! It's been so long, please come in!" Kasumi ushered as she stepped back and allowed the door to open enough to see who was on the other side.

"Thank you Kasumi, I have to say..." Nodoka said, stepping inside.

Kasumi clasped her hands together, resting her hands on her apron.

"It's been too long since I've last seen Ranko and Mr. Panda," Nodoka stated.

Kasumi took a sharp but subtle intake of air, only being noticeable as a very slight shrug of her shoulders, thankfully, much like Kasumi, she too often smiled while closing her eyes. "Oh! Please let me go get them!" she offered, clasping her hands together quickly enough to make them clap.

"Oh, that's alright, I have something I want to surprise her with!" she said reaching her hand up into her sleeve, pulling out a red yukata a pink sash around the waist, the sash having floral designs littered about on it, she quickly turned to the stairs and ran off, more than likely heading for Ranma and Genma's room.

Kasumi's gentle and motherly eyes widened, fear evident on her face as she had no idea how to possibly call out Ranma and Ryoga names without seeming suspicious, _'What do I do? Oh!'_ she thought in a panic, then as if a bell went off in her head, she found a loophole, hopefully, it would be warning enough for Akane to get the message.

"Akane! Company!" Kasumi called out, her hand to the side of her mouth, the girl's voice taking on a noticeably worried hitch. The mother of the Saotome's was far too eager to even listen to Kasumi's call to the blue haired girl as she was already ascending the stairs.

* * *

 **Akane**

Akane sat in her room, contemplating the various events that occurred just a while ago, to think that she would be here now, in her room, technically dating two men. Of all the chaos surrounding Ranma, she really expected something a little crazier, in fact, Akane knew that relationships like this were not all too uncommon but from what she's heard it's often associated with being perverse. _'I can't believe I'm actually doing this, with two guys,'_ she thought, tightening the grip on her pen. Then the lost boy came into the equation, not only was she Ranma's girlfriend but didn't that also mean she had to be Ryoga's girlfriend? This was an immense amount of things for Akane to process, hadn't she only just recently learned of Ryoga's curse? Now she was dating him too? _'The things I do for that jerk, I swear...'_ she thought, however, with far less aggravation in her tone, in fact, it almost sounded tame, even a little cheerful sounding.

Her face became flushed so many ideas swarming her mind, she had two incredibly powerful, two incredibly attractive young martial artists as her boyfriends. She would have never considered herself to be ' **that** ' type of girl, "I don't think I can study..." she mumbled to herself, subconsciously moving her pen on top of the page.

Finally, she noticed in the corner of her eye that her hand was moving about, she was met with several scribbles of Ranma's name, some versions of his name were either crudely drawn animals or sea creatures next to them, she hoped to Kami-sama nobody would see these.

 _"Akane! Company!"_

At first the blue haired girl thought nothing of it, assuming it to be someone from school may be coming over to give her today's homework, that was until she heard the sliding door to Ranma's room slide open, the abrupt action caused the sword on Nodoka's back to jostling about, which made several loud clinking noises. _'Wait? Where have I... Ranma!' s_ he thought, her mind reaching the conclusion so quickly that she rose up from her seat, turning her homework sheet around; just in case.

Once outside of her room, she saw Nodoka slightly hunched forward, poking her head into what she assumed was Ranko's room. "Hmm... they're not here," she muttered to herself, sounding disappointed as she rose to a standing position.

"Mrs. Saotome!" Akane exclaimed, her voice coming out as a combination of pleasantly surprised and deathly worried.

Nodoka had stopped to ponder for a brief moment, seizing her search in order to properly greet the blue haired girl, "Akane, dear!" she said, waving to the Tendo girl.

"Have you seen, Ranko?" she asked, somehow magically pulling out a folded, pink floral, yukata, proudly displaying it with a smile.

There was no greater annoyance to Akane than to be only given about as much prep time as a fire alarm going off, in her own house. "Well, you see..." she trailed off, the youngest of the Tendo family racked her brain for any ideas.

"Oh! I bet I know where she is!" Nodoka declared, bumping her closed fist into her open palm, reaching said unspoken conclusion, she continued her search for Ranko downstairs.

* * *

 **Ranma & Ryoga**

The two martial artists descended the stairs in their beaters, as their shirts were swung over their shoulder while one of their hands held a water bottle, beads of sweat littered about on their bodies, obviously needing to take a breather.

"Not bad, Pig-Brain... not bad..." Ranma smirked, wiping his brow with his forearm, then unscrewing the lid from his water bottle he took a quick drink.

Ryoga tilted his head back as he drank from his own water bottle, though, while doing so he had one eye watching the pig-tailed boy,"I've noticed you've really been laying on the pig jokes Ranma, any reason?" he asked.

"Maybe it's a pet name... P-chan..." Ranma looked to the lost boy, who blushed and looked away, not sure if that was a compliment or an insult, especially considering what they were now. The Saotome prodigy sensed Ryoga's confusion, so he placed one hand on his shoulder, "Wow...even as a guy I can get this outta' you, Ryoga?"

Ryoga felt that Ranma was making light of the situation, which actually did help, although Ranma seemed to be teasing, he could tell that he meant what he said and now Ryoga knew, it was Ranma's way of expressing his feelings,

"What can I say... you have a womanly charm to you, Saotome..." Ryoga smirked, closing his eyes and tilting his head down.

"Huh..." Ranma paused, his eyes darting from left to right.

Ryoga was snapped out of his little attempt at flirting when he noticed Ranma hadn't actually said anything but appeared to be on the alert, "Ranma? Something wrong?"

The pig-tailed martial artist stared at the Tendo home for a little, figuring it was nothing, shrugged. "Eh... probably nuthin'," Ranma concluded, raising his water bottle and tilting his head back.

"Ranko!" Nodoka shouted, opening the back door which leads to the dojo walkway, holding up a pink yukata in her hands.

Upon hearing his mother's voice, Ranma's eyes bugged out, his mouth closing, allowing the water to spill onto his face, which in turn drizzled down to his body, activating her curse and changing her into the one Nodoka had been hoping to speak to.

"Auntie Nodoka!" Ranma said, waving to her while holding one closed palm underneath her chin as to maintain her sweet and innocent act for Nodoka.

Akane coming in at the last second, about to say something but unable to get her words out, _'She's so fast!'_ Akane thought, having dashed as quickly as she could yet saw that she was clearly nowhere near as fast as the Saotome mother.

Ryoga turned to Ranma and wondered what had come over him, then upon seeing Nodoka's face, he leaned back and placed his hand behind his head, the other waving awkwardly, as if his arm was a rusty hand water pump, _'I don't know who this Nodoka person is but if Ranma's got to cover up her own name then I guess I better play along...'_ he thought.

"Ranko! I have someth-" Nodoka paused, eyes going wide for a second as she saw the strong looking young man known as Ryoga as if to further prove how manly he looked, he appeared to have strong and clearly noticeable fangs.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I must have interrupted you two!" Nodoka giggled, the end of her hand covering her mouth as she felt excited to see Akane's cousin finally find herself a man and one so manly, plus oddly enough, cute looking too. If she had to say something about him, he had a very animalistic charm about him.

Ranma and Ryoga stared at her, Ranma's jaw going slack, her mother thought she had a boyfriend, _'She ain't wrong but if I ever want to tell her...'_ she thought, worry filling her tone.

Ryoga had been looking to Ranma when he heard how bold a claim Nodoka was making. The red-headed girl of his dreams was in need, he noticed that she was taking a little longer than usual to actually say something, figuring that now was his time to act. _'Damn it...'_ was his final thought before acting.

"No! We're just training!" Ryoga exclaimed, looking away in a huff and crossing his arms, getting a nervous smile and faint rosy coloring to his cheeks.

Akane and Ranma found sweat drops forming on the back of their heads, not really expecting her to buy such a poor performance on Ryoga's part.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I thought you were!" Nodoka replied, placing her hand over her mouth _'looks like someone's a little shy...'_ Nodoka thought to herself, having quite the poker face as her expression remained the same throughout the entire conversation, coming off as completely oblivious.

Ranma only lost her footing for a moment, arching her head back before catching herself on one foot and maintaining her balance, her eyes had looked as though they expanded several times larger than usual, almost as though they were tiny airbags with black dots on them.

Akane on her part found herself tripping on her side, her hands warding away any more possible obliviousness, cause around Ranma and his family it was certain to spread like wildfire.

Ryoga rubbed the back of his head, laughing bashfully.

"Anyways, where are my manners? I'm Nodoka, are you one of Ranma's friends?" Nodoka asked, smiling and tilting her head to one side; much like a curious puppy.

The lost boy sighed inwardly, again. Why was he constantly forced to lie? Whatever the reason was for this charade, he wanted Ranma to be happy, "Yeah, I'm Ryoga Hibiki... I guess you could call us that," Ryoga nodded his head, keeping a straight face, though, it was more like he was annoyed inwardly but knew that Ranma and Akane weren't at fault, it was more like the universe was out to get him, kind of annoyance.

"More like rivals," Ranma commented, crossing her arms and looking to Ryoga, _'Keep saving me and I'm gonna' start feelin' like Akane,'_ she thought, her inner voice expressing gratitude as well as hoping her little remark about being rivals would also act as a way for her to convey thanks to Ryoga.

"Oh? Really? You have to tell me, is my son manly?" Nodoka asked, moving really quickly, standing a few feet away from the lost boy, making him lean back in shock.

As those words escaped Nodoka's mouth Ryoga was able to tell now that Nodoka was, in fact, Ranma's mother, which meant that earlier when she mistook them for a couple. She was indirectly saying that she thought Ranma in girl form made an ideal girlfriend for him. To Ryoga it felt as though she had given him her blessings, which really brightened the lost boy's mood, then to see her ask him if Ranma was manly? _'Why does she care about something like that?'_ the lost boy but he went along with it anyway.

"Um... yes?" Ryoga quirked a brow, although, still very happy from the inside, he still had to properly respond to the mother of his girlfriend.

The blue haired girl went over and clapped her hands together, "Mrs. Saotome, I get that you wanted to see, Ranma?"

"Oh! I'm sure that can wait for a second, Akane!" Nodoka said, fanning her hand towards Akane for a moment, excited to know that not only was her son strong but he managed to get himself not only a friend but even went as far as making a rival out of him.

Ranma was only glad that his mom thought of a rival as a good thing, probably attributing it to Genma and Soun's friendship. Ranma knew that Ryoga should say very little as this moment was quite delicate.

Ryoga leaned back, getting a very good look at the woman in front of him, _'She looks kinda' like Ranma's girl form!'_ he thought, then blushed in embarrassment.

Akane felt that Ryoga's actions could be misunderstood and quickly thought to cover for him. "Sorry! He's a little shy at first... but he's a really nice guy," Akane stated, looking to Ryoga and smiling gently.

"I've been Ranma's rival since middle school and yeah, he's insanely strong, every fight feels like a rush..." Ryoga replied, keeping a strong look to his face, causing the Saotome mother to smile, although, only momentarily. Everything he was saying actually felt sincere, though that rush came more from the most recent sparring match they had.

"I take it you don't want to ask?" Akane said, tilting her head as she was shocked to have that, not be the first thing she tries to do.

"I know I'm just not that lucky, I'm afraid..." Nodoka sighed as if expecting some sort of queue, which she was given.

"Sorry, you j-just missed them..." Akane stated, an anime sweatdrop forming on the side of her head, "They're on another training trip..." Akane said bowed her head, hating that she always had to use this excuse, knowing the disappointment it would raise, _'Normally I'd want to push for Ranma to tell her but with Ryoga...'_ Akane paused, looking to Ryoga and then to Ranma, unable to tell what the right course of action was.

"It's alright, Akane, I wasn't even here for Ranma this time..." she said, her voice going a little soft as she looked to the ground.

Ranma's face appearing saddened by this turn of events. She reached her hand out and was going to place it on Nodoka's shoulder until she smiled and raised her head. "I'm sorry... I must have ruined the mood," she commented, placing her hand on her cheek, feeling shy. "And all I wanted was for Ranko to try this yukata on!"

Ranma's eyes widened yet again as she was staring at a very beautiful yukata, which of course made her wonder what Ryoga thought of it, when she turned to see she saw that the lost boy was staring with his mouth agape and eyes wide open, clearly envisioning something that involved Ranma dressed in that yukata.

Even Akane had to admit, the dress would look rather nice on Ranma, she could easily pull off that color given her girl form, "Oh! That's right! It's almost time for the spring festival! I completely forgot!" Akane chuckled a little, trying to not make a big deal out of it, especially given everything that has happened up till now.

"I'm sorry your fiance isn't here to take you..." Nodoka said, apologizing in advance, following it up with a light bowing of her head while she kept the yukata held up to Ranma.

"It's alright!" Akane assured her, fanning one hand repeatedly. "I didn't remember either and I'm sure he wouldn't know what to do with that info anyways, he's really no Romeo..."

Ranma looked to the side when Akane mentioned that she wasn't a Romeo when in guy form, somewhat embarrassed but knew that it was mostly true, not that she'd ever admit that though.

Nodoka chuckled and placed her hand over her mouth, "I suppose he gets it from his father, Genma was so shy when we first met, even on our first date... although I had to pay for our first meal, he was always so grateful afterwards... like a real man..." she swooned a little, especially since that was when Genma had hair.

The redheaded girl saw the disappointment from everything that was said between them and figured, _'I can't be Ranma for you mom but maybe... maybe I can be Ranko for you...'_ Ranma thought, then reached for the yukata Nodoka had brought her, she had to admit, from a man's perspective this would look really good on her.

"Alright... let me try this on," Ranma said, seeming disgruntled but secretly excited that she could probably give Ryoga a little show, a modest show, it was a yukata after all.

Nodoka clapped her hands together and closed her eyes, "Thank you," she said, smiling gently.

* * *

 **Shampoo & Kuno**

Even they had to admit that taking down Mousse in his current condition would be cruel and also quite dishonorable. The teen smelled foul, most noticeably of dung from the forest. Shampoo was seen finishing on the knot to the back of Mousse's bindings, fastening it nice and tight but when she pulled back she noticed how dirty her hands had become, so, she immediately went to her supplies and grabbed a bar of soap.

"Hm... it's been awhile since I've seen this welp..." Kuno commented, looking to Mousse, _'Oh yes... I remember this one from our last encounter, it would appear he's finally sought me out ...'_ Kuno thought, trying to boost his confidence since he knew that this man was certainly going to be the one to challenge him for Shampoo's hand. He lowered his head and wondered if his training with Cologne was sufficient, there, however, was another option, the thought slowly coming together in his head as he hummed to himself.

"I know that look, child..." Cologne commented as she had been sitting nearby, of course also thinking about what to do with Mousse, however, she did not like the look on Kuno's face, it implied something else sinister.

"Why? He wishes to take lady Shampoo from me..." he commented, looking to the aged master, "Do you wish for me to die?" he asked, his arms crossing and going up into his sleeves.

"No child... I don't wish death on any of you," there was a pause, "Well, not anymore..." she paused, looking to Kuno, to which he responded by twitching his brow and giving her a look that one would assume is the combination of shock and annoyance, his mouth partially agape.

"I wouldn't let him take yours..." Cologne continued, clearing her throat before sighing in exhaustion.

"Is that not breaking your traditions? Are you not amazons, those who adhere to fierce laws?" The blue thunder questioned, quirking a brow.

"Child, simply helping you, has been breaking tradition... just the fact that she wasn't able to marry son-in-" Cologne paused, closing her eyes once before opening them, "Ranma... normally many in the tribe wouldn't allow this to go unpunished but my position weighed heavily enough that I was able to keep them from outright banishing her for life..."

"I did not know that... but how does this answer my question?" Kuno asked, though he was pushing for his answer, he did hear everything that was said, Shampoo was risking so much just to find a husband.

"My point is that I care deeply for my great-granddaughter and for some reason she also cares for Mousse, though she has been growing fond of you, she has unfinished business with him, unsettled business between childhood friends..." Cologne said, becoming serious. "That is why I cannot allow you two to kill each other..."

"Hm... you've already broken this many rules, what's the harm in breaking a few more? Especially if you don't get caught..." Kuno added, feeling a little bothered that he couldn't simply do what Mousse probably intended to do and off him right then and there.

"Relax that overworked mind of your's child, I've got an idea..." she stated, curling her wrinkled face into a smile.

* * *

 **Dining Room**

The others gathered in the dining room as Ranma was seen walking off to the bathroom, yukata tucked under her arm. The mother of the Saotome's sat in front of the table, getting a pleasant view of the koi pond.

"Wouldn't you like to sit down?" Nodoka asked, looking to Ryoga who was currently standing at the corner of the room, opposite to the corner of where the television was on.

"Don't mind me... I'm fine with standing, what I want to know is... what's with that sword on your back?" Ryoga asked, noticing that it was just there, almost as if Nodoka didn't have it at all or was treating it similar to the way someone holding a purse would, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I'm not sure if Ranma's ever told you this..." she sighed, looking at the table in front of her. "but this sword is for both my husband or my son, Ranma..." Nodoka said, tightening her grip on the hilt of her sword as she choked up at the mention of her son's name.

"What!?" Ryoga gasped, suddenly becoming frightful at the idea, taking a step away from the walls. The sides of his arms against the sides of his torso as his forearms were held out in front of him, his hands clenched into fists. "You can't mean that!"

"Oh! I'm sorry! Let me explain!" Nodoka chimed up, smiling nervously with her eyes closed as she waved one of her hands out defensively.

The lost boy contained himself when he saw Akane's expression plead for him to calm down, the lost boy sighed and closed his eyes, gulping and taking a deep breath, relaxing his demeanor to the point of slouching his shoulders a little.

"Ranma must have been a very good friend to you if you're this bothered by the news..." Nodoka commented, looking to the boy with a gentle expression, "I'm sure you have no reason to worry, you yourself told us how manly Ranma is."

"It's actually part of a contract going on between Nodoka and Mr. Saotome..." Akane clarified, speaking up from the right of Nodoka's field of vision, sitting on her knees, hands on her lap.

Ryoga closed his eyes and tilted his head down a little, containing his anger for the bald mooch, he controlled the homicidal rage within himself to continue. "You asked me if Ranma was manly, right?... is that what this contract is about?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes," Nodoka confirmed, remembering the day that Genma had made her sign the contract.

The way she fought for Ranma to be allowed to grow up with his mother, though, that would not give her a manly son Genma promised, "When Ranma was but a child, Genma asked me to train Ranma, make him a true man among men..." she paused and then partially unsheathing the sword to expose the sharpness of her blade, showing that she did maintain not only her honor bound contract but also kept her blade sharp, for the unfortunate day she may have to use it.

"If Ranma fails to be a man among men... then I have to..." she replied, she dipped her head a little, not liking that she had to tell this tale again but she had to, in order to ease Ryoga's troubled mind, "He must commit ritual seppuku before my eyes... then I..." she stopped, her hands trembling as they shook the sword sheath, ergo causing the blade within to rattle around.

The pig-tailed girl walked down the hallway, getting past Soun's room and eventually making it outside the dining room, however, the side Ranma was approaching from was the one behind Akane's. She sensed the fear and anger emitting from Ryoga's aura, she knew because none aside from Ryoga could reach such in an intense feeling of emotion, well... aside from Akane.

"How's it look?" Ranma asked shortly after shoving one of the sliding doors open, letting all the others see how stunning she looked in her new yukata. Ranma noticing Ryoga's battle aura dwindling as his eyes jumped from her mom too her.

There was no moment more than right now, that Ryoga truly lived up to his title of 'Lost boy' as his eyes went to get lost in Ranma's. The way her blue eyes shimmered in the light only helped to draw the fang-toothed boy in, even when she looked away from him in embarrassment.

Akane's eyes widened as she was sure even Ranma put her to shame when it came to trying on yukatas.

Nodoka looked to Ranma and smiled, clapping her hands together, "Oh! It looks so good on you, dear!" she said, congratulating the redhead, she turned to look to Ryoga, she was greeted with an odd sight.

Ryoga looked as though he was in awe of the crimson haired beauty that stood before them.

Ranma squirmed under Ryoga's gaze for a bit, then from the corner of her eye she noticed Nodoka's expression changing, she traced the source to Ryoga, _'Ryoga! Snap out of it!'_ she thought, but couldn't help but smile just the slightest bit, hardly visible as she had leaned her head away from both Ryoga and Nodoka, only one of her alluring eyes now keeping Ryoga's attention.

To Ryoga in his overly active imagination, he envisioned a hazy looking grassy hill with flowers littered about and he and Ranma running through the flowers, her dressed in that yukata all the while, laughing without a care in the world while holding each other's hands.

Akane knew from past experiences what was going on, she had seen first-hand how Ranma's ego worked. Judging by how close Ryoga was to drooling, her head must have been massive.

"S-so! Mrs. Soatome I'm pretty sure you knew the spring festival was coming..." Akane stated, not having bought that whole just there for Ranko to try out the yukata she bought her.

"Aw... you saw right through me, Akane," Nodoka placed one hand to her cheek and giggled, her eyes closing.

Ryoga was thankfully snapped out of his thoughts, as was Ranma, the two were thankful to have Akane save them from their blunders, _'Okay now he's screwing up a little... I need some sorta' excuse to get Pig-boy up to speed!'_ she thought.

"The tea is ready!" Kasumi said, cheerful with her eyes closed until she opened them to see Ranma in her dress. "Oh! That color goes well with your hair, Ranko!" the eldest sister said before moving over to the table where everyone was seated and calmly stood before Nodoka.

Learning over and serving their teacups, white hazy mists floated above their cups. Nodoka, Akane, and Kasumi each reached for their respective cups.

It wasn't that Ryoga wasn't able to hold the teacup in his hands, it was just that he'd have to get closer to Nodoka and seeing as that sword was meant for his current romantic partner, _'What can I do? If I do something stupid I could lose..._.' Ryoga thought to himself.

"Oh... hey! Ryoga! I just remembered something!" Ranma exclaimed, making her way over to Ryoga while scratching the back of her head, "I need to talk to you about that ' **thing** '..." Ranma said when she stood before him and reached for the lost boy's wrist.

"Huh? What thi-" felt the redheaded girl tighten her grip on his wrist. "Oh! The thing! We really should take this!" Ryoga said, appearing nervous the entire time as he bowed his head repeatedly.

"Take your time!" Nodoka said, smiling at the odd couple.

Ranma certainly had no poker face, that was for sure. Ryoga was often a mass of emotions and confusion, it wasn't impossible but most of the only ones that have ever failed to see his true feelings had to be the blue haired girl; Akane.

Akane just watched the looks exchanged between Ranma and Ryoga, that was something she wished she could have with the pig-tailed girl, while, maybe when ' **she's** ' a he. _'W-what am I thinking about! Of course, we have that... just not as much as before...'_ Akane thought, her thoughts leading to keeping her closed fist just above her mouth. She honestly wanted to tell them to get a room too while they were at it! Then for good measure throw something at them before leaving the room.

Ranma dashed away with Ryoga in tow, making their way up the stairs from the sounds of their thudding footsteps.

"Those two would look so cute together, wouldn't they?" Nodoka asked, turning to Akane with her hands on her lap.

The youngest of the Tendo's averted her eyes and blushed a little, well, she thought they looked cute together, it was just very awkward for Akane right now since she was dating both. She wasn't sure what exactly to feel at the moment, however, Kasumi only placed her hand over her mouth and giggled.

"So, I forgot to ask but... where's Soun Tendo? It's been awhile since I've seen him too," Nodoka inquired, smiling and hoping to greet a friendly face.

"Oh? Father's not here at the moment, I believe he's out... running some errands!" Kasumi stated, sounding hesitant with the last portion of her response, as clearly, she had to figure out what would be the least harmful to her father's image, however, she wondered if that was in vain due to his 'Poke' addiction, he was sure to be discovered soon enough.

"Oh..." Nodoka blinked.

* * *

 **Genma & Soun**

Two happy drunks merrily walked on their way home, each with a sake bottle in hand, their arms on each other's shoulders. In their other hands were deck boxes, each having a Poke'mon drawn on the sides, sporting the Poke'mon logo on them as well.

"I scant believe we banaged to-toot-" Genma began but stopped to burp momentarily, his blush becoming a little bigger now. "Gets such good dard-cards..." the bald martial artist said needing to correct himself. Leaning away from Soun and holding his deck box up to his face, the satisfaction of actually getting a good amount of holographic cards burning within him.

"Jess we did! Sour-toe-hay...!" Soun responded, giggling shortly after and closing his eyes, his eyes now mirroring the expression of the character he was currently cosplaying as; Brock. "H-Hey! I've grabbed an idea Shower-tome!" paused to see if Genma would respond, to which he did, by nodding his head. "Good... I sink the dofo-domo? Dojo! Can be a place to... hold dart tournaments!"

"Dat's just cupid, Bento!" Genma replied, finding the concept of holding a darts competition in the dojo stupid. "I've got it! We'll-" paused to keep himself from throwing up, by swallowing it back down, "hafta' Poke'mon card-" Genma paused, losing his train of thought momentarily. "...tournament!" he exclaimed as they walked, hands on his hips, still holding his things in his hands.

"A Poke'Dojo?" Soun asked, tipping backward a little as they walked together before leaning himself forward, as to maintain his balance.

"Jeah! I bean...pfft! Bean! I mean! Yeah!" Genma exclaimed, arching his head back and laughing at his blunder.

"Jets do it, Pen-ma!" Soun replied, raising his deck box up to clank it against Genma's deck box as well before they attempted to drink from said deck boxes and then brought their deck boxes down, sighing in contentment.

"The fut-bol-future looks good, Sound!" Genma cheered.

"Penma... are dose ours?" Soun asked, pointing to the cards that had flown out of their deck boxes since they so foolishly drank from them and went as far as not even noticing the cards probably fall onto their faces.

* * *

 **Nabiki & Happosai**

Nabiki contemplated her next course of action, what do to if two of the bets collided? Would they split it? No, Nabiki didn't want to split it. Though what else could she do? Force Ranma and Ryoga to like each other more than Akane? And after everything, she's gone through for her sister, to go behind her back for money? No. It seems that destiny was not on her side for once, she actually allowed one of her family members to be happy.

"You're so lucky you're my sister, Akane..." Nabiki commented sighing, to think Akane would actually go with the three-way option, _'Top of that Kuno baby isn't paying as much now that Shampoo's got her claws on him...'_ she thought, missing the business and revenue he generated. _'Wonder if I can make some money off them...'_

"Nabiki!" Happosai shouted, running along the chain-link fence surrounding the ditch that leads to the Tendo dojo, however, this time, he didn't have the two actors Nabiki had first assigned him.

The brown haired girl looked over her to shoulder to see him stop just behind her, the Tendo girl having to look up as Happosai choose to speak from there, "I want Ranma and Ryoga to do another play! Those two replacements ya' got weren't good enuff!" Happosai exclaimed, throwing his arm out to his side.

"Well... I'm sorry Happosai, I need some sort of incentive to actually set something up like that," Nabiki stated, with her eyes closed.

"I've got fifty thousand yen waitin' for ya' if you do!" The aged martial stated, digging into his pocket and revealing the money to the brown haired girl, who upon seeing it slowly felt a smile creep on her face.

"I'll see what I can do..." she smirked, knowing that Happosai didn't have a job, not to mention the fact that he probably would never get hired considering his history with the residents of the district, _'Clean money or dirty money? I can't really the difference sometimes...'_ she thought counting the bills.

"Ranma, Ryoga... get ready for act two..."Nabiki announced, using her thumb to flick through the bills. Satisfied with what she heard, she hummed quietly before opening her eyes and nodding her head.

Ushering for her client to follow with a wave of her hand.

Happosai eagerly followed, forcing down his excitement by covering his mouth.

* * *

 **Genma & Soun**

The two could be seen reaching the fence of the Tendo dojo, the head of the household looked to his longtime friend and belched, starting to feel tired. Practically falling asleep, only awoken by Genma trying to reach the front gate.

"Wait! Saotome!" Soun exclaimed sounding much soberer than before, catching the father of the Saotome's to look over his shoulder and look at him with a bewildered look. "I don't want my d-dear sweet Kasumi, to see me like this..." he commented about the fact he was dressed as Brock and reeked of alcohol.

"Den what are we supposed to do?" Genma asked, looking to Soun and he saw that his cosplaying friend was gesturing to the fence, is that he was still partially intoxicated it took him a second longer than usual to figure out that he meant to jump the wall.

Soun rolled his eyes and noticed Genma finally meeting his train of thought, then noticed Genma taking the appropriate squatting position for jumping, "Not through the fr-front Saotome! The back, much less sus-suspicious!" he stated, lifting a finger in a matter-of-fact way, though his finger couldn't help but sway, as did his head.

The two drunks ran around the side of the Tendo home, hoping to enter without being seen and hopefully sleep off their intoxication.

* * *

 **Ranma & Ryoga**

The pig-tailed martial artist leads Ryoga up the stairs, mentally kicking herself for not finding a better excuse to talk to him and form some kind of strategy to this whole predicament. When they reached the top of the flight of stairs Ranma shoved Ryoga to her shared room, closing the door behind her as she pressed her back to it.

Finally allowed to move on his own, thanks to Ranma he stumbled forward a little but quickly recovered and straightened his posture, "Okay, so what exactly is going on? That's really your mom?" Ryoga asked, pointing in the direction of the stairs.

"Uh-huh..." Ranma nodded her head, closing her eyes, "Okay... the reason behind this whole ' **Ranko** ' thing is just some cover we made to hide the fact that it's not me," Ranma stated, "Pops thinks that if we tell her that I can become a girl, she'll make him uphold his whole stupid contract!"

"What!? Why do you have to hold up your side of the deal? It's not like you-" Ryoga paused as it was only until he noticed her becoming timider with every passing word, her eyes averted his and a blush of embarrassment creep on her face, "Goddamn it, Ranma... how?" he asked sounding exasperated.

"Hey! It's not like I actually made the choice! The old man made the deal when I was too young ta' know any better..." Ranma said, only letting her anger flare slightly since being too loud about this particular subject could spell the end for them. "He made me use my handprint as my signature..."

Ryoga sighed heavily, Genma only had to go and complicate things for the lost boy. He reminded himself that if the opportunity to ever strike Genma comes up, he's going to take it, "Whatever, we'll deal with this... speaking of, how are we going to do this, Ranma?" Ryoga asked, taking a step closer to the redhead.

"I don't know... just remember that I'm 'Ranko' and pops is Mr. Panda, I'm Akane's cousin and I'm visiting for awhile, you're pretty much a tenant here now that Soun charges you for rent... long as we can find it in your home," Ranma said, pretty sure she covered everything.

"My home..." Ryoga muttered quietly, then it hit him! Maybe one time he could take Ranma to spend the night at his house! Though he immediately released how his thoughts could be interpreted and he soon found himself blushing a little. There were more pressing matters to attend to, now that he had been briefed, this could be his only chance, considering Nodoka's presence. "Ranma... what about us?" Ryoga asked, meeting her eyes as he took another step closer to the girl.

"We can't let her know I'm Ranma, so, guess I'm stuck like this for awhile..." Ranma said, sounding disappointed.

"Let me make myself clear..." Ryoga said, taking a serious tone with Ranma as he reached out for her hand and took it into his own, "What about us?" he asked, his gaze going soft as he stared into the redhead's blue pools.

Ranma's response to having her hand grabbed as though she were a dainty princess was to roll her eyes and looked off to the side, somewhat annoyed but figuring she at least owed him this, with that in mind she continued. "We're going to make it through this..." Ranma admitted, not sounding as sure as she'd like.

Catching on, Ryoga was able to see what Ranma had in mind, he stared vacantly, he weighed his options, _'Ranma... would you really accept never having your mom see the real you...?'_ the lost boy pondered.

"I know this is a lot to take in..." Ranma sighed deeply through her nose, eyes cast to the floor, "Don't you dare think about leaving me! Not after everything I've been through for you!" Ranma half shouted, glancing downstairs and then setting her sights on Ryoga.

"Do you really think that little of me!?" Ryoga shot back, clenching a fist out in front of him. "Have you got any idea what I've gone through!? Yes, we have your girl side but no matter what! It means, I'm..." Ryoga blushed, choking on his words as he took a step forward.

"No matter how you look at it I'm still a guy, huh?" Ranma laughed nervously.

"So despite that!" Ryoga braced himself but also remembered to control himself, knowing that if he continued to shout he might risk what precious time he had left with Ranma.

Pleasantly surprised Ranma knew that she had no reason to be worried, "Considerin' what you get out of it, is it really that bad...?" Ranma asked, placing both hands on her sides and swaying her hips to one side.

"No…" Ryoga answered, letting his temper cool over like a ball of magma in the sea.

Ranma closed her eyes and grinned coyly, _'Guess I oughta' be glad he ain't pointing any fingers at me being…'_ she thought with a faint tinting of pink to her cheeks.

A deep sigh escaped from Ryoga's nose, shutting his eyes, he knew that he still had a point to make, so he continued. "What I was trying to get at was…" Ryoga choked, making the gap between him and Ranma smaller.

"Hmm?"

"You're not the only one who's gone through some changes..." Ryoga clarified, letting go Ranma's hand to plop his strong hands on her seemingly delicate looking shoulders.

They looked to one another with tender smiles before Ranma took the slightest of steps, her slender fingers slithered atop Ryoga's musculature until reaching his collarbone, her cute digits curling inward to resemble the paws of an adorable cat.

"R–Ranma…?"

There it was again, that special smile Ranma would almost exclusively reserve for relentlessly teasing Ryoga. Her upper lip curled into a seductive feline's muzzle.

Dumbstruck, the lost boy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, _'I love it when Ranma's like this,'_ Ryoga thought briefly until Ranma's hand began to travel up Ryoga's neck and then finally the sides of his face.

"We're both guys, so I ' **know** ' you're loving this..." Ranma said in a low, raspy tone.

Ryoga felt his animalistic nature try to control him via his lips, however, Ranma's hands kept him at him from reaching that content feeling. "Always such a damn tease..." Ryoga growled with his eyes closed.

"Don't act like you don't love it..." Ranma replied, chuckling a little before finally relaxing her grip, accepting Ryoga's kiss.

They passionately engaged in their heated lip locking, doing so as though it may be their last. The possibility of which may-

"Ranko! What's-" Nodoka stopped in mid-sentence.

"Ah!" Ranma and Ryoga screamed, jumping away from the other as they looked to Nodoka.

 _"Ranko...?"_

* * *

 **(7,414)**

What!? Nodoka knows Ranko is into Ryoga? o.O Oh my god... what's going to become of them? Where's Ukyo in this? Oh wait... she will be making a return. Possibly next chapter? If there's, the next chapter.

There's something about this story... it's mostly to thank the comic readers who've shown me that this series has the potential to be a comic. Maybe someday that comic can reach this book in this series of mine?

Whatever happens... I'm definitely happier with this than the last version. To those of you who are willing to try once more. I'm cool with that... I may even delete Nodoka's Daughter for this as it's replacement.

The name is odd... wasn't it Nodoka's Daughter? Yes. It was. The name change is intentional. What exactly it means? I'll let you guys figure out. X3

Find our comic on DeviantArt! Username: KiyomuMitsue(Formally FoxTalesInc~)!

Check out our Pa-treon(Remove the '-') and support us: www _dot Pa-treon_ _dot_ com / KiyomuMitsu (Just remove the spaces, the ' **-** ' and change the dots to ' **.** ')

 **Foxes from the Foxxy~**

 **DaisukiFox~**


	2. Chapter 2

**DaisukiFox:** **I guess it's about time to post this chapter. It took a long time to figure out where I really wanted to go with this series... I'm going to come clean about something with this story. In the beginning... people wondered if Ranma's Boyfriend actually had a plot and clear direction towards where it was headed. The truth is... that's not actually the case.**

 **Like the creator of the DragonBall series, I actually made it up as I went along... all the tender fluffy moments were strokes of dumb luck and a love for what I was doing and how I wanted to explore a mindset I myself had gone through.**

 **This series may not be as big as it used to be, especially, since its sequel but the fact of the matter is, it's my story... I love it and I want to take it in this direction.**

 **You guys can either join me for the ride and maybe help push the story further or can just support me by reading like you have. I think you guys know which I'd prefer! ^^' Ehehe... XD**

 **I'm no stranger to having readers constantly coming and going, even one-timers! It's a bit sad to see so many people come and go but I hope my stories have made people's days and maybe even taught them a little about themselves. xD**

 **I'm rambling... sorry. Thanks for reading.**

* * *

The martial arts couple stood as though frozen in time's gripe, their shocked faces could only portraying so much of what they were actually experiencing at the moment. Both begged their minds for some sort of clever excuse but neither really had anything to say.

"A-Aunty! It's not what you think! Really!" Ranma protested as she shook her hands out in front of her, a shade of red so intense it'd make a tomato blush.

"Don't be shy you two!" Nodoka exclaimed as she jolted over to the once intimately engaged pair.

She caused both Ranma and Ryoga to flinch to a position of attention, the blushes on their faces and the inability to control the situation at hand left them speechless for far too long.

"Oh! Ranko and Ryoga! I see you're already practicing for your parts!" Nabiki delightfully announced before clapping her hands together.

Ranma's eyes widened before she came to the realization that Nabiki was helping them in their hour of need, _'Aw man... Nabiki's saving us! There's always a catch with her! Dammit!'_ she thought.

"Huh?" Ryoga blinked, only to be elbowed in the torso by Ranko's lightning fast jab. "Y-yeah! We were just rehearsing..."

"Oh? What for?" Nodoka paused with a slight look of disappointment but intrigue.

"Well, you see... Ryoga and Ranko here owe me quite a bit of money you see, I especially remember asking these two, to practice their big moment..."

"Oh? What for?"

"Now why would I spoil the surprise?" Nabiki asked with a coy look as she closed her eyes and turned around, shrugging as if she had nothing to hide. "I'm sure everyone will love it..."

"Ranko sweetie, please don't tell me this is for an adult theatre..." Nodoka asked, wanting to ease her somewhat irrational fears.

Nabiki stopped to consider what Nodoka's actions meant and couldn't shake the feeling off that she herself had given her the impression that she was doing something less than honest. She was. It just wasn't to the extent she was thinking it was, _'Maybe I was a little **too** coy...' _ Nabiki thought for a second as she straightened out her surprised face.

"Hey! It ain't what you're thinkin'!" Ranma said in her defense.

"W-why would I ever do something like that!?" Ryoga exclaimed, shaking the notion from his mind but still the seed had been planted.

Nodoka placed her hand over her heart and sighed contently, her eyes closing to smile. "Well then! When is this little show?"

"You just so happened to come around right as we're getting ready! It's nothing too fancy but our director happens to have very specific tastes that only these two amazing people have..."

"Oh? Like?" Nodoka blinked.

"Well, the director picked em'... but if you're asking me what I think **his** reasons are?" Nabiki hummed as she turned around to put her pointer finger at the corner of her mouth, trying to portray a somewhat innocent looking school girl.

Everyone in the room, except for Nodoka, watched while feeling as though whatever she was going to say, wasn't going to be all too flattering from their perspectives.

"It's because one is oblivious and the other has secret feelings they didn't want to accept!" Nabiki exclaimed as she turned to the supposed Ranko she was speaking to as if reminding her that although she was covering up the truth, she wasn't very happy about Ranma's deception towards her mother.

Ranma felt her eye twitch as she heard those words escape Nabiki's mouth, much like someone who was stung by a bee she acted quickly and somewhat frightenedly, "H-hey! Don't go-" Ranma knew that if she continued she might have blown their cover so she treated the situation like a band-aid and acted like some do, take care of it quickly.

"Putting it that way! Right, Ranko? Ehehe..." Akane interrupted as she pretended to have some hand in this, her eyes jumping from one end of the room to the other as she tried to casually shrug off what Nabiki said.

"Oh! I see it! Which is the oblivious one and who's the one who won't admit it?" Nodoka questioned as she clapped her hands together, immediately showing her approval.

"Why have me tell you when you can just find out for yourself? There's only a small entry fee and considering you might just be family one day, we could do a family discount..." Nabiki offered as she put her hand over her mouth and held her hand out.

"Ranma...?" Ryoga whispered as he leaned closer to the redhead.

"Yeah...?" Ranma whispered back, leaning her head back while looking slightly nervous.

"Is Nabiki helping? I can't tell anymore..." Ryoga confessed, hoping his redheaded girlfriend could shed some light on what was going on.

"Ya know, I can't tell anymore either..." Ranma's face did not inspire confidence in Ryoga.

"Oh man..." Ryoga let out an exhausted-sounding sigh.

* * *

Sitting on top of the front gate of the Tendo household was The Grandmaster himself, his lack of patience was as subtle as a foreign telephone marketer faking an American accent. "Wait out here she says... won't work with you if you act out..." Happosai pouted as he noticed two figures land on atop the fence.

"The coast looks clear Tendo..." Genma muttered as he checked his surroundings before looking back to where he came from, only to see Happosai sitting on Soun's head like it were some cushy throne.

"Oh... ya think so?" Happosai asked as he smirked while taking a drag from his pipe.

"Master! Where have you been? We've been so-" Genma tried to say, only to nonchalantly look off to the side.

"Quit your yammering and help me get ready boys! Because we've got a show to do!"

"Wait? Do you mean another Poke'theater?" the head of the Tendo home questioned as he looked up at his Grandmaster.

"Oh yeah! It's with Ranma and Ryoga again!"

"I have to admit they both fill their parts rather nicely..." Soun complimented with his hand beneath his mouth.

"I'll say! Why don't we get things ready!"

"Nabiki mentioned something about your wife being here, Genma..." Happosai smirked.

"Oh no! I gotta' change!" he yelled before reaching into his pockets and shoving his deck box into Soun's hands, running along the fence until within leaping distance of the koi pond. Diving headfirst, he caused a heavy splash before emerging from the pool as his large Panda self.

"Let's do this!" Mr. Panda's sign read.

* * *

The door to Ranma and Genma's room slide open, the two martial artists and their ringleader entered swiftly, Nabiki closing the door just as quickly as they had entered. "Alright, look you two, I betted that you two would hook up but since Ranma didn't end up choosing, Kuno is off somewhere with Shampoo right now..."

"Huh... so that's what happened to Kuno," Ranma commented with a smirk.

"Actually, I had a talk with Cologne before she met up with you, she helped me get the strength I needed to go see Ranma again..." Ryoga explained although he had started out relatively calm with his approach, shortly after, he began to feel flushed.

"Really? So... she's da reason why Ryoga here was able to get back to me, huh...?" Ranma muttered as her smirk turned into a bashful smile, her voice had a slight but noticeable hitch in it.

"Maybe I oughtta' tell you the story sometime..." Ryoga replied with slightly wide eyes, catching on to her teasing but was a quite a bit more shy in the presence of others.

"Wow... I gotta to say, my matchmaking skills are better than I thought..." Nabiki commented as she turned crossed her arms in triumph.

"Wait... how'd you know Ranma didn't actually choose?" Ryoga blinked before asking nervously.

"I have my ways, plus there's a lot at stake here..." Nabiki answered with a dry tone,"there's a lot of people who entered this betting pool and they, just like me... will be pretty upset to find out that no one actually won..." she finished.

Her comment alone caused Ryoga's spine to tingle, somehow she had found a way to watch the two without them knowing, especially considering how underhanded she had been before. Although, this was a relatively new perspective for Ryoga, that had become all too common for Ranma, so much so, that she scoffed in annoyance. "How's that our fault?" Ryoga asked, feeling that Nabiki had some nerve to try to force them to end their three-way relationship.

Nabiki stared, almost as if she were impatiently waiting for him to stop just by how she was checking her nails.

"In fact! Why do we actually gotta' do anything for you?" he demanded, almost sounding as though Ryoga were interrogating a suspect.

Ranma had reached her hand out to stop him but before he could continue, earning a look of bewilderment from the Lost Boy.

"Well, considering that I've saved your butts just a few moments ago, plus the fact that I have enough dirt on both of you to get the word around to your mom..." Nabiki spoke as a grin spread across her smug face.

"You're toying with Ranma's love life just to make a buck?" Ryoga growled.

"Just like how Ranma's toying with my sister's love life by refusing to actually get serious with her..." Nabiki added while closing her eyes.

"Hey! We're technically dating now!" Ranma fired back.

"Look, I get what you're doing Ranma... what both of you are doing..." Nabiki gave a second before pausing, opening her eyes and meeting their serious expressions with her own.

Neither got exactly what she was getting at so they only stared right back at her, almost like they were having an old western staredown. "An what's dat?" Ranma goaded more seriously than confidently.

"You two have a pretty nice head start, while my poor little sister is still trying to play catchup..." Nabiki announced with a dry but clearly annoyed tone.

"So... what exactly are you getting at?" Ryoga asked with uncertainty.

"I know this isn't going to play out how you want it to, Ranma..."

"Huh?" Ranma narrowed her eyes.

"A polyamorist relationship can only work when all three are committed to the relationship," Nabiki explained as she walked towards the two before turning her back to them, showing her discontent for this outcome.

"Hey! We can make it work! Don't you go sayin' we can't!" Ranma took a step forward.

Although Ryoga desperately wanted to fight Nabiki's accusations he clearly remembered discarding his feelings for Akane in favor of fostering a loving relationship with his former arch-rival, _'I gotta' admit I'm closer to Ranma than Akane, at least, right now I am.._. ' he thought before seeing that Ranma had turned to him. "Of course we can make it work!"

Nabiki eyed them for good while before taking a deep breath, "Till then, how's about doing me a favor for costing me so much yen?" Nabiki asked before smirking gently, possibly because she had been inspired by Ranma and Ryoga's courage in keeping her sister happy, that or she was mildly amused at the thought of them failing.

"It's another one of those Poke'threaters, isn't it?" Ranma groaned.

"Why are those three so obsessed with that show...?" Ryoga complained, slapping a hand over his eye.

"Ah come on... I saw the script, it's nothing you two aren't used to, trust me..." she assured, clapped hands together as she gave a knowing smile. Her message had been received loud and clear, given how Ranma and Ryoga averted their eyes. "Also, just because I'm so generous," she continued, knowing that even _she_ knew she wasn't convincing anyone.

"Don't want your mom to be so suspicious of you so early on?" The middle Tendo sister asked.

She was met with silence from the two but their silence also lead to Ranma clearing her throat before gesturing for Nabiki to continue.

"Try to convince her that this little play was because you owed me for something, kay? Kay..." she said, finishing their conversation and then presenting them their outfits by pointing to them at the corner of the room.

"Least she bought us some time to think this through..." Ryoga commented as he eyed the clothing and scripts stacked atop them.

"You sure you don't wanna' back out now, Ryoga? I've been thinking a little and maybe..." Ranma lowered her head and clenched her fists a little, knowing that all these hazards existed for them.

"No way..." Ryoga answered with a straight face.

His lack of hesitation lead Ranma to smile gingerly but also, she felt like encouraging like the other's self-confidence. The sudden closeness shocked her for a second before Ryoga further escalated things by closing his eyes to kiss her, forcing her to return the sentiment by shutting her own eyes tight and then relaxing into it.

"I told you already, I'm all in..." he said softly, giving her a cocky but playful grin.

* * *

All those who weren't starring in the play, gathered near the front entrance while seated on green cushions, their backs facing the entrance while they looked to the back of the room, which was only separated by two red curtains.

The banner just beyond the curtains had been replaced by another more colorful one, with the words "Poke'Theater" written in odd yellow text, with thick blue outlining."Oh! I can't wait!" Happosai chuckled to himself with a satisfied grin while holding his script.

Opening the door behind the trio of women was Nabiki as she then spotted her viewers. "Sorry for the wait! I needed to give our actors a little pep talk before they're on," Nabiki clarified explaining in a calm and level-headed manner.

"It's alright dear, both Akane and Kasumi have been excellent company," Nodoka replied with a cheery deposition.

"No! Thank you for joining us for our brief play! Our director is currently overlooking his script so please wait patiently while the show begins," Nabiki stated while counting the yen bills next to Nodoka.

Akane and Kasumi both felt sweatdrops form on their faces, not only that but embarrassed that their sister would go this far for some extra pocket money. "That's our Nabiki..." Kasumi laughed nervously.

"Oh! I hope this is good! What exactly is Poke'mon anyways?" Nodoka smiled eagerly, seated on her knees.

"I could fill you in, Mrs. Saotome!" Kasumi announced, catching her attention.

"Allow me to explain to those not familiar with Poke'mon!" Happosai exclaimed as he walked out from behind the curtain to the far left from the audience's view, wearing a small director's bonnet, in one hand he held a holding a paper cup megaphone.

"Please do!" Nodoka smiled as she tilted her head to one side, shutting her eyes.

"Why hello there..." Happosai muttered as he finally took the time to see that although Nodoka was slightly older than what he had been accustomed to but that in no way meant he wouldn't appreciate her beauty.

"Um... hello?" Nodoka greeted by leaning back, unsure as to what to say.

"How about you focus on the play, Director?" Akane asked as she felt her vein twitching and her mallet expanding in size.

"Now what have I said about-" Nabiki tried to remind him.

"Ehehe!" Happosai laughed sounded muffled as he was pressed face first into the mother of the Saotome's chest.

"Ah!" she shrieked and before anyone could even blink she had reached a standing position and had drawn her sword.

Akane and Kasumi only had enough time to see the conclusion of Nodoka's swings, which, although didn't land, did prove a point. "Whoa!" he cried with his bonnet and paper cup megaphone cut in half.

"Don't you dare touch me again!" she exclaimed as saw the little man scurry away from her, she sighed before straightening her hair as her hair had come slightly undone from her bun, a loose stand falling over one of her eyes.

"Oh...? Feisty!" Happosai exclaimed as he dove back in, only to find that his task wasn't as simple as he had first thought.

"Hey! We're here!" Ryoga exclaimed from the entrance, a sliding noise accompanying his announcement.

"And ready ta' get this over with!" Ranma's voice echoed after Ryoga's.

"Mrs. Saotome! I can't help when you're swing-" Akane attempted to reach out and help but was thwarted by how fast Nodoka was trying to keep Happosai off her.

"Cut it out you dried up prune!" Ranma shouted as she dashed towards Happosai.

"Bwa!" Genma exclaimed while running alongside Ranma.

Happosai had become lost in his own world, so, he hadn't even taken a second to notice that a fist had smashed against his elderly cheekbone, the energy dispersing only when colliding on the wall behind the aged master. "Gha!" he cried as he hit the wall back first, his arched back before falling and landing face first.

"Enough! You pervert!" Akane exclaimed as vapor trails wafted off her mallet, _'What a lucky shot...'_ she thought.

"T-Thank you... Akane..." Nodoka panted as took a deep breath and sheathed her weapon.

"What's all the ruckus!?" Soun asked running in from the front entrance, catching everyone's eyes.

"You look just as good as I thought you would in that dress!" Happosai cried into Ranma's bosom, suddenly appearing as though he had just used the interdimensional warp skill("Now you see me, now you don't" technique).

Ranma's spine crawled and she froze in utter disgust at the thought of being touched by such a wrinkly old primate, "Hands off you-"

"You have no shame! If you ever touch my-" Ryoga's voice boomed as he corrected himself, "my friend again! I'll make sure you pay!" using The Tiger Strike on Happosai's head, sending him face first into the hardwood floorboards.

"I warned you not to act out..." Nabiki muttered in a disgruntled tone as she then looked to Ryoga and the damage he had caused to the dojo.

"I'll fix it!" Ryoga barked as he looked to Nabiki before looking back down to Happosai and shoving him further into the hard ground. "I just couldn't let him get away with-" he started but only paused as he shared a look with the redhead.

"I think I have an idea..." Kasumi interjected by standing shifting around in her seating position to pat her lap. "Would you like to sit on my lap? Maybe without the little outfit this time?"

"Really?" Happosai's voice echoed from the underside of the floor.

"Only if you behave..." Kasumi said in what nearly sounded like a sing-songy way of saying, yes.

"You're the only kind soul here..." Happosai whimpered as he was suddenly out from the ground and running over to Kasumi.

"Wait...? How'd he?" Ryoga looked down to see that his arm had been shoved down the hole Happosai had been under. "How'd he even!?" he cried with shocked eyes.

"I got ya' man!" Ranma exclaimed as she helped pry loose her Lost Boy from the hole, tugging at his torso from behind him.

Off to the side, Nodoka could be seen straightening out her appearance by putting her loose ends back in her hair bun. "Huh?" she stopped briefly to see that Mr. Panda had stopped to write on a sign before handing it over to her. Not sure what exactly to make of it she cautiously read the sign when he turned it around for her to read. "Oh! That kid's anime I've been hearing about... a Poke'mon master?" she paused to look at Genma in his panda form.

He nodded with his eyes shut, hands behind his back with a small blush on his plush panda face.

"Kasumi are you sure it's such a good idea coddling him like that?" Akane asked, staying wary of Happosai and his ways.

"Well, I figured since he likes young girls so much maybe there could be a way to keep him calm..."

"You mean like an addict getting a minor dose until they can quit?" Nabiki asked.

"Huh, not the words I'd use but I think that's about it..." Kasumi admitted nervously, however, her ways proved effective as Happosai had remained quite tame while resting on Kasumi's lap.

"Aw, you don't trust me?" Happosai prodded hopefully, looking to be on the verge of tears.

"No!" everyone but Kasumi and Nabiki answered at the same time.

"Why do you have to be so hurtful!?" Happosai cried as he took to hugging Kasumi who only awkwardly patted his back.

"Hello there! Nodoka!" Soun bowed quickly.

"Soun! It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Nodoka smiled.

"Indeed it has," Sound smiled in return. "My apologies, I was busy running some errands you see..." Soun explained while clearing his throat into his hand, possibly to mask the smell of sake on him.

"It's alright, could I maybe trouble you for a favor?" Nodoka smiled hesitantly before leaning over to whisper into the father of the Tendo's ear.

"Um... sure? How can I help?" Soun asked.

"Could you please sit between me and that crazy old man?" Nodoka asked, her voice pleading for his assistance.

"Of course," Soun nodded his head with a kind smile before letting Nodoka scootch over as to allow Sound to widen the gap between Nodoka and Happosai.

"If we're all done, Happosai would you kindly?" Nabiki asked with an amused smile.

"Dat's right! Places everyone, places!" Happosai exclaimed as he then pointed to both Ranma and Ryoga, who stared at him blankly before walking over to the set. The curtains closing behind them as they had clearly needed time to get in their positions.

* * *

 _"Need to find Kuno..."_

 _"Gotta' take the chance..."_

 _"How much longer until you're safe, my dar-"_

"Ugh!" Mousse groaned as a sharp stinging came from his cheek, unfortunately, he wasn't able to tend to his sore face from the fact that he couldn't quite move his arms.

"Why'd you hit him?" Cologne's voice echoed in Mousse's ears.

"Did you not hear his words? He wishes to take my dear Shampoo..."

"Well, I suppose I can't fault you if that's your reason..." Cologne commented as she then cleared her throat.

"What's going on? Hey, you old crone! I get helping Ranma but Kuno!? You've really on gone off the deep end forcing Shampoo into this nightmare!" Mousse accused all while shouting at Kuno.

"I've got Shampoo doing what? Hmm?" Cologne asked as if she were teasing him with her sleeve over her mouth.

"Quite the jester, is he not?"

"What's that's supposed to mean? What's so funny?" Mousse asked, glaring hatefully at Kuno.

"New Son-in-law here has made quite the progress while you've been gone..." Cologne was making her amusement apparent, especially since Mousse was still being very disrespectful towards her.

"Maybe even more than even you could have hoped, I, Tatewaki Kuno have already kissed the lips of the fair lavender maiden Shampoo-"

"You've what!? Don't go trying to poison my head with lies! Shampoo would never kiss the likes of you!"

"Strange... I dare say, I could say the same for you..." Kuno replied with spite as he crossed his arms but also tucked them in his sleeves. "Though we may not fancy the other's company, I do not jest... she and I have parted lips once before! " Kuno declared proudly by standing before Mousse with his sword pointing to Mousse's nose.

"No is rubbing it in face!" Shampoo exclaimed before conking Kuno on the back of the head with her fist.

The mighty Blue Thunder went down with a thud before warding his hands for any evil.

"Oh Shampoo! I just knew you couldn't-"

"Quiet! Stupid Mousse! We is needing to have talk..." She announced, retrieving her water canister from behind her, dousing it over Mousse's head.

"Quack!" Mousse's cursed form shrieked in surprise before feeling his restraints loosen, only to have Shampoo's hand catch him by his throat and effectively keeping him from trying anything.

* * *

Genma grunted as he pulled back the curtains, revealing Ryoga leaning back on a wooden fence while wearing a turquoise kimono with a thick navy blue sash(Obi). Behind him was a flat canvas drawn to resemble a forest with an ocean, decorative red festival lanterns strung up in the background.

"To think It's been a whole year since we were last here..." Ryoga spoke in character.

"A whole year...?" Soun commented as he rubbed his chin.

"That's right, this is in the future where Ash is a year older and still on his quest to become a Poke'mon Master..."

"Ah... I see, like a future 'what if' scenario..." Soun analyzed as he heard a hum of confirmation from Happosai.

"He's quite the fan, isn't he?" Nodoka laughed nervously, maybe getting the reason why they all allowed this old man to have such control over them, _'He's actually so strong he can make people listen to him...'_ Nodoka thought bitterly but knew that this was the life she had chosen for herself, so, it was bound to have its downsides.

"Even that Ghastly from last time is here, he's just lucky I'm not spilling the beans about his whole..." Ryoga began only to cut himself off as he heard the sounds of footsteps stopping near him.

"Hey, Ash! What're you doing out here alone?" Ranma asked with a confused expression, holding a fan in one hand while the other was by her side.

Ryoga blinked as he was able to recall that feeling he first got when he saw Ranma dressed as Misty with the previous red kimono, _'It looked good when Ranma first put it on but with that look in her eye, she just looks so adorable...'_ Ryoga thought as he couldn't help but lose sight of his motivation.

"You alright? You're staring," Ranma averted her eyes as though she were a shy girl, lowering her fans away from her mouth and looking to the ground.

"Oh! Uh... sorry... I'm just having a weird deja vu kinda' feeling..." Ryoga replied as he had just come down from his dizzy spell, facing away from the cute redhead.

"Oh... it's just like we thought it'd be..." Ranma said, rolling her eyes.

"Do you mean the part about Team Rocket following us again? Or the part about Ghastly playing the old lady and not remembering who we are?"

"If ya' ask me, he's actually faking it but I guess a year ago is too long for a ghost Poke'mon to care about..." Ranma said as she leaned on the fake wooden railing Ryoga was leaning against.

"Even if it was just last year...?" Ryoga asked, smiling.

"He's hundreds of years old, go easy on em'..." Ranma replied jokingly before looking back over to the Lost Boy/Poke'mon Trainer.

They peered into each other's eyes for a second before taking a deep breath and going back to avoiding prolonged eye contact. Even their audience watched with baited breath, a collective groan of disappointment arose from the audience.

"I gotta' say, they really sell the whole cute couple act..." Nabiki commented, looking to next Kasumi, who nodded in return.

"Don't they?" Nodoka asked gleefully at Akane.

"Sure! It's like they've had a ton of practice or something..." Akane agreed with a less than happy look, her voice fading as she finished.

"I know!" Nodoka exclaimed before looking back at the stage.

Feeling her ego get a significant boost the pigtailed girl moved her hand over her mouth to conceal a smile, _'If martial arts don't work out, I oughtta consider actin'!'_ mused Ranma. Her partner's thoughts, however, were different. Different in the sense that he was now a little flushed by the mere fact he was getting applauds.

"Here it comes..." Happosai muttered as he clenched his copy of the script.

"Hey, Misty... can I ask you about something?" Ryoga asked, getting right back to his part, forcing his composure, he continued.

"Sure. What?" Ranma blinked as she cautiously brought her fans up to her chin.

"We've been at this for awhile and there's even been sometimes I've won prize money..."

"Oh..."

"How come you've never asked me to ya know... pony up for your bike?"

"How come you've never just bought it and said to get lost...?" Ranma answered his question with one of her own.

"Now you're just avoiding the question..." Ryoga pretended to act surprised and nervously avoided eye contact, appearing bothered by her attempt at answering his question with one of her own.

"Maybe I actually wanna' know, Ash Ketchum..." Ranma as Misty placed her hands on her hips and leaned her head closer, putting the cosplaying Poke'mon Master under scrutiny.

"Misty is there something you're not telling me?" Ryoga asked, once again playing the role of oblivious love interest.

"Whatever do you mean...?" Ranma asked with a nervous laugh.

"Alright! Fine! If you can't be honest, then I will!"

"A-Ash?" Ranma stuttered, overtaken by Ryoga's forwardness.

Fighting against his instincts of running away from the conflict, Ryoga or rather Ash Ketchum appeared to have finally taken a step towards addressing his feelings. **"** The reason I don't ever bring it up is... because I don't want you to leave! Maybe I really like having you around even... maybe as something more, maybe..." Ryoga felt flushed all of a sudden, _'All things aside, this old pervert ain't too bad at this...'_ Ryoga thought as he felt invested in this scene.

"Then a what...? Ash...?" Ranma prodded gingerly.

It felt like Ryoga had been confessing all over again with the way this whole mess was staged, _'Come on, focus... dammit even with that Misty wig Ranma 'still' gets my heart going...'_ he thought with a hard swallow before remembering his lines. "You're really going to make me say it...?" Ryoga pleaded frightfully.

"T-That depends on what you're getting at, Ash!" Ranma exclaimed as though she were trying to understand exactly where the cosplaying Lost Boy was coming from.

"Misty! I think I-I-" Ryoga looked away and closed his eyes, looking as though he were someone who had just bet it all.

"Ash? What are you sayin'?"

"Like-like you! More than just a friend!" he revealed as he put his hands on Ranma's shoulders, lowering his head as he looked less and less confident by the second.

"Oh..." Ranma whispered as she dared not meet his eyes.

"And I think you might like me too..." Ryoga's muttered, his voice only barely louder than a whisper.

"Ash!"

Ryoga felt Ranma's delicate body press against his, _'I think Ranma's gettin' into this too...'_ he thought as he then pretended to not know what to do. "M-Misty? So does this mean...?"

"You're such a spazz, Ash! When a girl hugs you like this, it usually means..." Ranma was unable to continue, knowing that's what the script dictated she do. "Why can't you see what's right in front of you?" Ranma asked sounding as though she were about to cry.

"I don't know okay! All I've ever known is Poke'mon! This is the first real thing I'm getting into and I'm scared! Okay!" Ryoga announced while fired up, spilling the beans since subtlety was clearly beyond someone like him.

"Oh..." Ranma smiled gently while blushing the slightest bit. "If that's the reason then... I guess the only thing left to say..." Ranma met Ryoga's eyes as they seemed to tremble with fear.

"What's that...?" Ryoga asked with a worried face.

"I like-like you too..." Ranma said, clearing the air for the Poke'mon Trainer cursed with super obliviousness.

"So we're together now, huh...?" Ryoga said while blushing, sounding as though he were in disbelief.

Ranma said as she turned to face away from him, hands clasped together behind her back. "How about our first dance as a couple...?" she asked while looking over her shoulder, holding out a hand for Ryoga.

"You got it..." Ryoga nodded his head with a kind smile before taking her hand and pretending to hurry over to a dance floor.

Genma ran over to one side of the stage curtains before crawling under one side of them, a low-key grunting sound emitted from the other side as the large black and white bear closed the scene.

Letting go of Ryoga's hand the redhead looked over to see where Genma was before looking back to Ryoga, she noticed him blushing a little and then saw him make eye contact.

She winked without worry, clearly aware of where her father was, since the back of her head was facing towards him while Genma carried a wooden bench over to the center of the stage.

Ryoga took a second to also watch where Ranma's father's eyes were and waited for the moment he'd look away before winking in return, the two already making their way over to the bench so that they could face the Tendo house residents and its guest; Nodoka.

Appearing as though he were a mere blurry image, Happosai stood before the audience with his repaired by scotch tape, paper cup megaphone. "After the dance Ash and Misty head off alone... watching little boats with candles guide any wayward souls trying to find their way home, lost at sea..." Happosai said, speaking into his paper cup while clenching one hand.

"Enjoy..." Happosai bowed before vanishing instantly, reappearing on Kasumi's lap with an excited look on his wrinkly old face.

Pulling back the curtains revealed the two martial artists sitting on a wooden bench, Ranma's head on Ryoga's shoulder as Ryoga had a calm and serene smile. "Hey Misty..."

"Yeah, Ash?" Ranma moved her head off Ryoga's shoulder.

"Thanks for sticking by me, even when you didn't have to..."

"Somebodies got to..." Ranma said, jokingly.

"I must say, Master really does know Misty's character quite well..." Soun mumbled to himself.

"I'm needed backstage, enjoy the show..." Nabiki said, keeping her voice low as she made her way quietly over to the stage.

Ryoga returned her playful banter with a smile of his own, before softening his face as they willingly gazed into each other's eyes. Slowly they closed their eyes and leaned forward, Ryoga going most of the way, leaving Ranma to cover the remaining distance between their lips.

It was that about that instant that the blinds slowly began to close, getting closer and closer until they were just about to kiss.

The redhead's hands quickly moved to wrap around the Lost Boy's neck, their eyes were nothing but tiny slits as the curtains came to a complete close.

* * *

 **DaisukiFox: Gosh... I really had a blast with this chapter but damn was it hard! Happosai is sooo hard to always accurately predict because his actions can tip the scales of the story too far. Thankfully we have characters like Nabiki to handle situations like these... XD**

 **I love how well Ranma and Ryoga fit as Misty and Ash... Misty is a little nicer than Ranma and probably a little more sensitive towards others feelings but they both have a strong air to them that can demand authority. Sorry... I authored out there... XP**

 **Now onto to more news, I may not be able to post as often as I have lately since money at him has been getting tight... a couple of bucks to spare but it's a struggle and we really need it to survive, so, I'm sorry... T.T**

 **I want to keep writing fanfiction but right now it's not looking like it's too profitable for our image so I've been told to focus more energy on our original works.**

 **That's why Absurd Heroes will no longer be a book for sale on some site but a story posted on DeviantArt, it could reach comic status but we'd have to see. The original gender bender story will probably get some teaser art but that will be once we're not so flooded with other works.**

 **We may even have to kill off just one Fanfiction story or put it on a long hiatus. So we're looking to the poorest performing story... I know this doesn't sound too good but this may need to happen.**

 **Thanks for understanding if you do! Sorry if this is upsetting to some...**

 ** _Please Read and Review!_**

 ** _Foxes from the Foxxy~_**

 ** _DaisukiFox~_**


	3. Chapter 3

Nodoka's Son Chapter 3

By: DaisukiFox

Hey there guys and eventually the DeviantArt and Wattpad readers! Here's chapter 3 of Nodoka's Son. It's been a while since the release of chapter 2 and I think I can understand why... as a writer I'm constantly learning things and in some cases having to test ideas. It's like refining my process and stuff! ^^

I've also been busy with other stories and even on a side story that's getting an odd amount of attention... 'XD The storyline and the point in time in which everything is happening is becoming a bit complicated and straying away from the original source but also not... . Ryoga One Half Punch is a hard one to work with, especially considering how long updates for the manga can take and how much the story has to adjust to show some resemblance to One Punch Man from the online comic to the manga... it's just proving to be difficult for me. T3T

Before for me, it used to be how I can challenge myself but now it's... how can I improve even more? Aside from my obvious grammar issues but in my narrative and story direction. Not many people give hints on that so I wonder if I have done a pretty good job at it or no one really looking that deep into it wants to discuss it. lolz

Right now Lost Together seems to be doing pretty well and progress for that one is pretty steady! Plus Doc takes some of the work off me. Thanks, Doc. X3

This chapter was brought to you by the kind voters of DeviantArt and of my supporters, all I can say is I hope you guys like it and hope we can get to chapter 4 soon.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2! Please support the official release!**

* * *

On the other side of the curtain sat both Ranma and Ryoga as they were nearly kissing, although the second the curtain fell the Redhead actually leaned into her yellow-clad Romeo before pulling back as he blushed brightly and looked to the stage.

"Ra-Ranko!" Ryoga scolded as he saw her laughing at his frustration.

"I can't help it, you're _way_ too easy when you're nervous..." Ranma snickered as she shut her eyes and tried to hold back her laughter, only kind of succeeding.

"Oh great..." Ryoga closed his eyes and breathed through his nostrils, although couldn't help but blush and smile as he looked out to the audience, the two separated and now stood before the crowd they had been forced to entertain.

Cheers rang out as they bathed in the adoration of their close friends and loved ones, Ryoga's mind was, however, far from soaking it in as his thoughts centered around the sweet little gift Ranma had given him, _'How did I get so lucky...?'_ he thought before letting his head drop, bowing to the audience.

The ones with the cameras were, of course, Happosai and Nabiki as they wanted something to commemorate this most joyous of occasions as they chuckled among themselves.

Kasumi clapped in delight to see such a sweet and adorable looking play, "That was so cute!" she exclaimed.

"Oh! I know now!" Nodoka asked looking to Nabiki as she clapped her hands together.

"Oh?" The middle child goaded with her arms crossed and a small catlike smile.

"Misty is the one with secret feelings and the Ash boy is clearly the clueless one!" she said deducing Poke'mon's original pairing with ease.

"Should have known it'd be that easy to guess..." Nabiki stated, sounding as if she were just told that the fabulously wealthy had become slightly richer.

"They're still very cute together..." Nodoka asserted as she brought her hands down to her lap and watched as Ranma and Ryoga make their way over to the others.

"Great job you two!" Akane praised while smiling warmly at the main attractions of their strange little theatre play.

"It was nothing..." Ranko boosted putting her hands behind her head.

"I wish I could say the same, I'm always a little nervous performing in front of others..." Ryoga admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck, a bashful blush gracing his boyish features.

"What? You?" Nabiki asked sounding flabbergasted although anyone who knew Nabiki well enough or was actually paying attention, they could see she was clearly feigning her shock.

"You're a natural, Ryoga!" Kasumi praised as she looked down to the one who had orchestrated the whole thing.

The Grand Master was shuffling his hands through his pictures like a mischievous little child getting what they wanted until he noticed the attention was on him and he rubbed the back of his head, "It was pretty good!"

"Thanks!" Ryoga said in response to Kasumi's review.

"Don't go getting a big head..." Ranko reminded as she rolled her eyes but clearly made a point to not dampen the Lost Boy's mood.

"Right..." Ryoga nodded briefly before letting his excitement cinder.

"Can we get out of these now...?" Ranko asked before looking over at Nabiki.

"Sure, great job, Ranko..." Nabiki replied with a convincingly warm smile as she gestured with her hand for her to do as they pleased. "Both of you..." she added, humming slowly.

"Well done! Ranko!" Soun congratulated with the victory hand sign and small BrockXMisty fan in the other.

The Misty cosplayer tensed briefly while hearing Nabiki's praise, although, where normally people would shrug this sort of response off, she knew better than to make assumptions involving the most devious of the Tendo sisters. Taking what little time she had to think she quickly walked out of the room, waving to Nodoka casually as she did so.

Her partner quickly followed after.

Sensing a disturbance in the balance, Mr. Panda was able to pinpoint the source of the anomaly and eliminate it with expert precision. Finding the foreign intrusion he calmly and cunningly waited for Soun to close his eyes before replacing his fan with the proper AshXMisty fan.

During the entire exchange, Akane couldn't find a moment to interject as to shift the focus from the play to herself but even that itself felt like she was trying to assert her importance so she waited calmly with her hands on her lap, _'Why are Ranma and Ryoga so comfortable around each other...? How come that's so hard for me and Ranma?'_ she thought deeply, fighting the need to shut her eyes suddenly and drawing attention to herself; her eyes only half open.

"I'm sorry Ms. Saotome but could you excuse me for a little?" the youngest Tendo separated herself from the group and waited just enough for her to follow the two from a safe distance.

"Oh! Of course, dear!" Nodoka exclaimed with some urgency as she didn't want to make the girl feel like she was obligated into anything, possibly knowing that was a trigger of hers? No one could say for certain.

Without saying anything the blue haired girl ran after the two actors, hoping to have a post-rehearsal pow-wow with the redhead and her _'close'_ friend.

* * *

 **Shampoo & Mousse **

Extremely comfortable was the best way to describe Mousse's current state of mind while Shampoo carried him as if he were some roast duck hanging at the corner of a Chinese restaurant. Leading them further in as she slowly came to a stop and then brought Mousse up to eye level,"Is Mousse going to listen?" she asked, narrowing her eyes to near slits.

"Quack!" Mousse replied, which only caused Shampoo to glare and pout at him.

"Shampoo serious!" she said, shaking the duck back and forth a few times.

"Quack! Quack!" Mousse cried while nodding his head over and over again, an anime sweat drop forming at the corner of his cursed duck state.

"Shampoo want Mousse to give Kuno more time to train..."

Immediately Mousse shook his head and proceeded to bark... quack in response to the request, _'How long do you intend on keeping me waiting!? Shampoo!? I've been through hell and back and the first time I see you in what feels like forever! You turn me into a duck!'_ Mousse thought.

"Will Mousse listen if Shampoo make deal?" she said, posing a question in hopes of catching his attention and perhaps persuading her would-be suitor if she could perhaps keep him in line.

"...Quack?" Mousse while in his duck form question, his tone clearly quizzical despite being a feathered fowl.

Shampoo took a deep breath and looked away from him, closing her eyes and inhaling slowly she opened her eyes before gently letting them drift down, "If Mousse waits and no tell Kuno, Shampoo give kiss before fight..."

Mousse's duckbill went slightly agape as he blushed.

* * *

 **Ranma, Ryoga & Akane **

Immediately opening her door the redhead waited for Ryoga to step inside before going over to Ryoga's backpack and taking her clothing from the little pile they had folded atop of The Lost Boy's traveling gear. Swooping up her pants and Chinese silk shirt she went to the lefthand corner of the room and draped her clothes over one hand as she reached to undo her sash with the other.

Her kimono-clad partner went to the southeast portion of the room to do the same, their backs facing one another as they changed in relative silence, "Hey Ranma..." Ryoga began as he reached down to grab his clothes on the ground, starting with his pants as he began to loosen his sash.

"Yeah...?" Ranma inquired as she pulled her pants one leg at a time.

There was a pause as Ryoga sighed heavily, _'I know what I signed up for... if this is what it takes...'_ he thought solemnly, almost like he could sense Ranma's quizzical brow readying itself for him. "About what Nabiki said..." Ryoga began as he became oddly somber.

"You mean about the whole all three need to be..." Ranma said about to put her arm through her first sleeve but stopping to hold it down with her middle and ring finger to do air quotes, "All in."

"Well about that..." Ryoga looked off to the side and tightened his jaw. "If you need some time with A-Akane..." Ryoga choked and growled low in his throat, but not of anger but in hopes of easing his troubled heart.

Ranma could feel the tension in the air and the worry in Ryoga's voice, not that he was doing well to hide or if he was even making the attempt. Leading to Ranma getting a look of confusion before forming a small smirk on her face as she tiptoed over to Ryoga and brought her arms around him.

"Aww... are you really that scared of losing me, Ryoooga...?" Ranma teased as she held him from behind, her smile curling into a feline-like muzzle as she hummed softly against him.

"R-Ranma! I-Is now really the time!?" Ryoga spoke with a restrained sounding voice, trying to keep himself within speaking voice levels.

"There's never a bad time to mess with you my darling P-chan..." Ranma mocked as she made a point of pushing her breasts up along Ryoga's back, leaving his face a shade of red some would consider unhealthy for humans.

"C-Come on, Ranma! H-have some decency!" Ryoga urged although his nosebleed spoke otherwise.

* * *

Taking cautious steps the blue haired girl calmly and quietly walked up the stairs with a hand over her chest, a downcasted look on her as she ascended the stairs. Looking up only when she reached the top. She could only stand outside the room with her hands behind her back, "I'll just wait until they're done changing and then I'll-I'll ask Ranma to..." Akane muttered as she felt her face turn red, her lower lip wobbled as she swallowed hard.

 _"Well about that..."_

"Huh...?" Akane stopped thinking long enough to hear Ryoga's voice echo through the door, _'What am I doing!? I shouldn't be eavesdropping!'_ she thought as she was just about to cover her ears. _  
_

 _"If you need some time with A-Akane..."_

With her hands just above her ears she absorbed what Ryoga had been saying, he had gone as far as taking a step towards Akane exploring her feelings for Ranma... given how she felt and how the two must have developed, she was genuinely touched to hear Ryoga make such a suggestion, "Even if it hurts you..." Akane whispered as she began to move away from the door and down the stairs, a gentle but appreciative smile on her face.

 _"Aww... are you really that scared of losing me,_ Ryoooga _...?"_

Both Akane's eyes and mouth went wide, stopping as if told to freeze at speeds far quicker than her mind should have been capable of, however, her mind jumped to the idea of Ranma doing something indecent with Ryoga, simply put, it caused her blood to freeze over and chill her to her very core.

"What's going on...?" Akane muttered so quietly that it sounded as though something had gotten caught in her throat, immediately jumping to Ranma possibly trying to take off her clothes, _'W-Wait! This is Ranma..._.' she thought to take a moment to realize that as being too far.

 _"C-Come on, Ranma! H-have some decency!"_

Everything for Akane grew silent and her fears and anxiety became so overwhelming that she rotated a complete one-eighty degree turn on her left heel, just as slowly as a rooster weather vane being gently blown by the wind.

She rushed over to the door, "What're you doin'!?" Akane demanded, sliding the door open.

Seeing Ranma in his pants and beater while holding onto Ryoga in the exact same amount of clothing, it was where she had found Ranma's use of the female anatomy that she found a spark of rage ignite in her.

"A-Akane!?" Ryoga stuttered as he gasped in fear to see that she had come at a very inopportune time.

"Kane!?" Ranma stopped and blinked then retracted herself from Ryoga as if she had done nothing at all.

"Ranma! There's a point where it's teasing and then there's a point where it makes you look like-like a t-tramp...!" Akane argued as she really wanted to scream at her but knew that if she did she'd only draw attention to herself, her hands to her side like a child about to throw a tantrum.

Ryoga had finally calmed down enough to place his hand over his chest and look towards Akane with appreciation.

"Hey! It's just a little teasing!" Ranma exclaimed as she moved over to hug Ryoga's arm, intentionally getting a rise of panic from the Lost Boy.

The color of Ryoga's resembled a radish from the amount of effort he was using to remain calm, basically, a statue frozen in fear and trying to ease his violently beating heart as his lips fought the urge to contort into a smile but what mostly swarmed his thoughts were the soft bouncy orbs that pressed against him so snuggly.

"Plus I ain't your regular girl so I'll be his 'girlfriend' however I want..." Ranma scuffed, her pigtail whipping behind her.

What she had expected was for Akane to violently lash out but instead, she was met with the sound of almost deafening silence when she saw how attached her object of affection had been to what she could in a sense, call... competition.

"A-Akane...?" Ryoga swallowed as he noticed the silence from her and saw that she had put her hands on her blouse.

"Aww... geez..." Ranma looked off to the side and realized that she may have treaded on a shaky grounds and immediately released Ryoga's arm but trying her best to keep her composure and show some humility, this was the girl she had accepted into her relationship.

"S-sorry Akane..." Ryoga muttered as he sighed deeply, closing his eyes and rubbing the back of his head as with his other, he made it seem as though he knew that what was about to happen would be more between Akane and Ranma. "I'll wait outside..." Ryoga said before he began to head out.

The two girls looked to him and before he could leave he felt Ranma and Akane each grabbing one of his wrists, Ryoga's mind had been blown by what had just happened and he looked over his shoulder to see that the two of them had dripped their heads so low that he couldn't make out their eyes from his point of view, _'T-this is kinda' like that-that...'_ he thought, his voice trailing.

 _"Ryoga, wait..."_ two female voices spoke at the same time, that fact immediately becoming apparent as they raised their heads to meet at the center and looked away from one another and the teen that they had clung onto.

What caught them all off guard had to be the fact that Akane had also reached out for the Lost Boy, the thought of being left alone with Ranma and to have the thing that triggered this moment was her jealousy, especially after intruding on what otherwise might have been a _**'thing'**_ between Ranma and Ryoga.

Fearing to say anything and possibly making the situation even tenser the Lost Boy decided that being quiet was probably the best thing for him to do, _'W-why did Akane stop me too...? I get Ranma a little but...'_ he thought as he shook his head.

"Don't go, Ryoga..." Akane spoke out, deciding to break the silence. "I'm sorry if-if this is just your thing, I forget that thanks to everything you two have had a lot of time together..." Akane said glad that she wasn't gritting her teeth, otherwise, she'd hear them chattering from how nervous she had become.

"Yeah, just let me have a second with Kane' here..." Ranma spoke softly and then met Akane's eyes with her own, a small blush across her face as she swallowed a little and prepared herself for what she was about to do.

"H-huh...?" Akane gasped as she leaned her head back a little, just in time to see Ranma cross her arms over her chest and close her eyes.

"Hmmm..." Ranma put her hand to her chin and with her blush diminishing considerably as she weighed out her options, she pondered this crisis for a moment before clearing her throat.

"Ranma...?" Akane inquired as she saw how long she was taking to answer.

"I'm sorry if I've been spending too much time with Ryoga here..." she commented with closed eyes, gesturing to Ryoga with her thumb before putting her arm back around her torso.

"Ehehe..." Ryoga chuckled nervously and tried to smile but only managed to give a cute if somewhat awkward.

"O-oh...?" Akane blinked as she found her eyes widening, sensing where the conversation was headed.

"I think we oughtta' set some time aside, just you and me..." Ranma opened her eyes and offered a warm smile.

Akane didn't have it in her to meet Ranma's gaze, although appreciating the sentiment she couldn't help but feel like she would have preferred Ranma in her male form when explaining this to her but it was still clearly an effort on the pigtailed girl's side. Finally able to settle on what to respond with she lowered her head and stared at the floor, nodding briefly and silently.

Even Ryoga found himself blushing at how Akane had responded, _'S-She was my crush just a while back...'_ he thought, having the none too distant past being dug up.

"There's something I want though..."

"Huh...? Wait...!" she blinked and then immediately looked from Ranma to Ryoga, only to see that he was just as clueless as Akane.

"Don't get so bent outta' shape, it's just something I think ' _we'_ need to do..." Ranma said, looking down.

"What're you getting at...?" Ryoga paused and saw that Ranma had stopped looking at them but it was more like she was just someone who was struggling to let themselves be heard.

* * *

 **Nodoka, Nabiki, Genma, Soun & Happosai **

Not long after they finished the group he had taken to polite conversation and even seemed to have calmed down, Happosai currently putting his recent treasures in a scrapbook for safekeeping. Photos from the previous Pokemon theater posted alongside with the new ones, the old man gently sliding his photos under a plastic layer.

"Well, that was certainly interesting! I can see why all the kids go for it if it's this well written..." Nodoka smiled as she looked over to Nabiki who couldn't help but notice her head look away from hers.

"Let's just say both get very creative and let's leave it at that..." Nabiki clarified her stance on whether she liked the show or not.

"I think the show is adorable, I've seen some very cute creatures come from it..." Kasumi praised as she looked over to Nodoka.

"I think Nabiki and you my dear Kasumi may have missed the point..." Soun leaned his head up with his eyes shut hand over his heart. "The point is through friendship and some tough love we can overcome anything and be the _'very best'_ is to be the most open and wisest trainer of them all..."

"Dad, it's a show about kid's cockfighting with magical nonsense sprinkled in..."

"I think it's actually about sweet little alien monsters that crash-landed on earth so many years ago! At least that's what that one episode centered around Clefairy might be saying..." she commented.

"Oh... that actually sounds pretty interesting..." Nodoka blinked as she looked over to Kasumi.

"If not only that to look forward to then the fall of Team Rocket and their evil leader!" Soun exclaimed as he crossed his arms, feeling all knowing with his Pokemon based wisdom.

 _"Don't forget all the friends they'll meet again someday!"_ Genma's sign read as he sat next to Nodoka with his panda legs crossed.

"Ranko has _really_ trained you well, why..." she paused to put her finger to her bottom lip.

This caused Genma to panic as he leaned away and felt some sweat start to form around his panda head.

"It's almost like you're human..." she commented as she put her hands together and over her blouse.

Everyone but Happosai seemed to tense up as it looked like she was connecting the dots, the shift had been so sudden that even Kasumi's usually cheery manner dropped as what could come from this could only spiral further.

 _"What do you mean!?"_ one of his signs read as he leaned back in horror.

"But I know that can't be it..." Nodoka commented as many of the room's occupants had fallen on their heads.

"Anyways, when it comes to this Pokemon show, I'm not sure the story is for me..." Nabiki said doing the half-and-half gesture. "I grew out of those repetitive kid's shows right around the time I finished watching that Sailor Moon anime..." she finished, pausing to consider it further, _'That one had a pretty good story behind it, that Serena chick was pretty awkward though...'_ the middle Tendo sister thought.

"Well, I still think it sounds pretty fun... I wonder if it'll be on anytime soon..." Nodoka commented as she noticed from the corner of her eyes appeared to be crying and looking at her with wide eyes.

"My... what's gotten into Mister Panda?" Inquired Kasumi.

"Hehehe..." Happosai chuckled as he put his hand over his mouth.

"Anyways, as you know it's quite the trip back Misses Saotome, would you perhaps like to stay the night?" Sound asked feeling that it was the least they could do.

"If that's not any trouble at all..." Nodoka clasped her hands together and smiled a little nervously but clearly, she was trying to remain humble.

"It's no trouble at all..." Soun fanned his hand dismissively as he then looked to Mister Panda, _'Really Saotome, calm yourself... remember what'll happen if she finds out about Ranma's curse!'_ he thought inwardly as he held his facade quite well.

"I have to know Nodoka, there has to be more than just the festival and seeing Ranko in that kimono," Nabiki brought up suddenly and noticed the mother of the Saotome's blink before she lowered her head with a considerably diminished good mood.

"N-Nabiki..." Kasumi clasped her hands, blinking and taking a moment to absorb what had just happened.

"Nabiki! Please-" Soun interjected.

"No... it's quite alright really..." Nodoka replied as her smile slowly changes into someone who had accepted their fate. "Truth be told I actually did come to surprise Ranma, maybe finally see how my boy's grown," she began only to try and shake it off.

Stricken with a sudden blow to the heart the middle sister immediately felt a ping of guilt and pain in her heart, _'Damn it Ranma... do you know how much it hurts to see a mom a pain...?'_ she thought as her composure had actually been broken by Nodoka.

Happosai found his attention on her too.

"When I realized they weren't here," she shut her eyes and shook her head with smile tears at the corner of her eyes, realizing how many eyes were on her, she wiped her tears with the back of her palm. "I suppose I said that in hopes of sparing myself some grief..." she finished and shut her eyes.

Soun with his legs crossed and his forearm rubbing his eyes clear of any tears, "My heart cries out for you my friend..."

Genma felt his panda heart begin to swell as he shook his head clear of any tears, much like a dog shaking off some water from their head. Although unknown them he was holding a sign behind his back with the words "My darling Nodoka..." inscribed on it.

For once Nabiki became how aware of vulnerable she was to the sight of a grieving mother and fought as hard as she could to avoid spilling the beans to the poor woman but she found her resolve near the end,"I'm sorry..." she half-coughed out but although she was having a hard time it seemed that Nodoka was understanding as she smiled at the brown-haired girl.

"Aww..." Kasumi smiled weakly but kindly.

"Anyways, t-there's something I'd like to talk to Ranko about, if you could excuse me..." she offered a smile as she came to a stand, hugging her sword close to her chest.

A nervous air hung around them as Nodoka began to leave the room, _'We almost died the last time she was here! I better make sure the boy doesn't try anything!'_ Mister Panda thought as Nodoka was leaving the giant Panda sought a way to intervene in any misdoings his son might get into.

* * *

 **Ranma, Ryoga, Akane & Nodoka **

The pigtailed girl looked between the two she considered being her Boyfriend and Girlfriend, after what felt like forever to Ranko she realized that they were never going to get it without her help, "I want you two to go on a date!" she exclaimed as both Akane and Ryoga met eyes in the middle.

"R-Ranma! I-I..." she paused as she saw that Ryoga had clenched his fists and looked away from the blue-haired girl.

"I know you came into this thinkin' it'd be something like you two sharing me," she began, just to lose steam about half-way through. "Something tells me, that's doomed ta' fail..." Ranma swallowed hard and closed her eyes, arching her head back a little as she exhaled deeply.

A gasp escaped Ryoga's mouth as he squinted his eyes and shook his head to one side, _'It still hurts but...'_ he thought as he groaned mentally actually needing to go that far as he really should have guessed something like this would happen, "I guess I had the same idea as Akane..." Ryoga admitted.

"I know this is sudden and I know it's weird but..." Ranma said, taking on a more stern look.

Her sudden change in posture immediately caught their attention, although neither had any idea as to what it really meant so they waited with baited breath and watched as she tightened her bottom lip, "I know you two well enuff to know you'd probably start fighting over who gets me..."

"What do you mean!?" they exclaimed as they clenched their fists out in front of her with annoyed expressions, causing Ranma to lean back with warding fingers and an anime sweat drop to form.

They both stopped to see that the other might as well be their reflection given how on point their reactions were to one other were, which caused them to blush and immediately look away with what appeared to embarrassed faces, given what Ranma knew about the two, she could only be certain of a few things.

"Honestly you two there's something I gotta' say, back when I was starting to fall fer Ryoga here..." she gestured with a nod of her head.

This peaked their interest, the odd duo leaned in, small blushes across their baffled faces.

 _"I started noticing_ sumthin _'..."_

* * *

 **Kuno & Cologne**

At the campgrounds where Kuno and Cologne sat they surveyed all the various weapons hidden within Mousse's while a little further upstream Sasuke was busy washing clothes in the river before falling in and screaming.

"I must say, I'm quite impressed there are so many things..." Kuno commented as he held up a ball and chain.

"You'd be surprised what a little creativity can do..." Cologne stated as she stacked all the throwing knives onto a piece of parchment for storage before sitting up and going over to the pile they were accumulating.

"Why can I not simply fight him now...?"

"Because he's still a bit more capable than you are Son-in-law..." Cologne muttered as she began to hop back over before landing on her feet and going back to the pile, starting with the metal chains inside the boy's clothes.

"What do you know of my _true_ capabilities...?" Kuno questioned as he bashed his closed palm onto his chest and looked away with his hand on his chest.

"Quite a bit, boy..." she muttered as she then saw Shampoo and Mousse coming over.

Tatewaki Kuno looked over to Shampoo and saw that she had been carrying Mousse by the neck still but his distress looked much less apparent than when he been taken away for his little chat with his lavender-haired maiden.

"Shampoo make deal with Mousse..."

"A deal...? Pray what deal?"

"He waits until Shampoo say Kuno is ready..."

"Hm..." Kuno narrowed his eyes and hummed to himself, _'Tis it not strange that he would simply agree without so much of a threat or...'_ Kuno thought as he saw that Shampoo was far more clever than he thought as he then witnessed Shampoo mobster style shake down the duck as he squawked repeatedly, honking more like a goose than an actual duck as all his weapons began to fly out from the bird's feathers.

Beneath her feet gathered a pile of ridiculously convoluted and dangerous weapons much like the ones they had sorted through his outfit, although not as much, it was still a pretty sizeable amount.

"Now he harmless..." Shampoo muttered as Mousse's goggles for some reason were able to show that he currently very dizzy beneath his oddly hazy spectacles.

"Ready some warm water and prepare for the boy for a little sit-down..." Cologne ordered, narrowing her eyes, watching as she immediately spun Mousse around and caught him by his neck again to hand him over to the elder.

"Of course..." Kuno muttered as he then turned to Sasuke.

"I'll get the kettle..." the bucktooth ninja replied with his eyes closed.

* * *

 **Nodoka**

Approaching the Tendo home she hugged her sword briefly as she almost looked like she was counting the walkway tiles with how her eyes kept darting around. Finally, in front of the back door, she opened it, her expression souring as she approached the stairs.

"I know I was here originally for Ranma and Genma but I wonder if I could maybe help Ranko along with Ryoga..." she whispered thoughtfully, feeling an odd maternal instinct kick-in but not entirely sure what for.

"If I'm lucky maybe I'll help her find her own fiance..." Nodoka mused as she put one of her hands over her lips, closing her eyes as she reached the top of the stairs.

 _"I started noticing_ sumthin _'..."_

"Huh...?" Nodoka muttered quietly as she widened her eyes and stopped dead in her tracks.

* * *

 **Ukyo**

Standing not ten feet away from his office was Doctor Tofu as he appeared to be smiling, "I have to say your condition looked far worse than I first thought but you need to understand that it was precautionary, I'm not like the more well-funded clinics around here so I wasn't able to tell if you were going to be alright..." he explained.

"You said I should be good now, right?" Ukyo asked as she looked at her bandaged forearm.

"Just make sure to not operate any heavy machinery while taking those painkillers," Doctor Tofu looked up as he thought it over.

To which Ukyo inspected in her hand to see various warning's printed on the sticker to the container she was given.

"I'm honestly surprised you healed as quickly as you did..." Doctor Tofu added as he straightened out his glasses.

He looked up to see Ukyo already going leaving, still rather strong, despite having a few bandages on her face and forearms, "Thank you for your help, Doctor Tofu..."

"Anytime..." he replied with a warm smile.

 _"I've got some business to get to..." she whispered as she reached behind her, unsheathing her spatula._

* * *

 **I hope you guys consider checking out our DeviantART for more stories and previews for your fanfiction, look up - KiyomuMitsue. ^^**

Ukyo is coming back!? Nodoka is going to listen to what Ranma's Noticed? And Akane and Ryoga have to...? o/O

Gosh, I've missed working on this one... X'D

I can't say for sure when the next chapter will be, with so many stories it depends on which really pushes it's narrative the most and that depends on how well I can write that chapter. :)

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy.

 _ **Thinking outside the box, inside the box~**_

 _ **KiyomuMitsue~**_


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